'3L flowers used to craft CPWD's R-Day tableau'

New Delhi: A whopping 3 lakh flowers including marigolds, jasmines, and roses were used to decorate CPWD's floral tableau, showcasing Mahatma Gandhi's freedom struggle, that rolled down Rajpath on Saturday as part of the Republic Day Parade. In keeping with this year's theme of commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the float of the Central Public Works Department's (CPWD) tableau was fronted by a huge floral statue of the father of the nation in his trademark walking avatar.

Depicting Gandhi's 'Dandi March', the middle part of the tableau showed his non-violent followers while the rear portion promoted his message for world peace and unity.

"Different variety of flowers, foliage, ground covers were used for the tableau. Around 3 lakh natural flowers were fixed up by nearly 400 skilled workers hired by the CPWD," a senior CPWD official said.

The official said that the work started in the morning on January 25 and was completed by 1 am on Saturday, so that the flowers remained fresh.

Since the beginning, the CPWD has a tradition of showcasing floral tableaux at the Republic Day Parade and this year was no different, the official said, adding that flowers like marigold, jasmine, rose and aster among others were used for the tableau. Various facets of Mahatma Gandhi's life journey were displayed by 22 tableaux that enthralled the crowds during the parade to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the father of the nation.

While 16 tableaux were from states and Union Territories, six were from various central ministries and departments –agriculture, power, drinking water and sanitation, Indian Railways, CISF and CPWD.